Hyperpole has delivered its verdict. The #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid of Toyota Gazoo Racing will start the 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans on Saturday in pole position.Toyota Gazoo Racing driver Kamui Kobayashi was hot favourite to win the 2022 Hyperpole. The 24 Hours of Le Mans lap record holder was fired up to become the first driver to be fastest qualifier four years on the bounce and equal Jacky Ickx’s record of five pole positions. He leapt out of the pit lane at the front and had a free track in front of him.

Race officials deleted several times at the end of first flying laps for track infringements. However, Brendon Hartley in the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid made the first mark, ahead of Kobayashi in the #7 sister car. Alpine’s Nicolas Lapierre was hot on their heels, closely followed by Ryan Briscoe and Olivier Pla in the Glickenhaus cars.

With seven minutes to go, a raft of new bests by Briscoe, Hartley and Lapierre shook up the rankings with the Frenchman shooting to the top with the first sub-3:25 lap. However, on the final laps Kobayashi appeared to have settled the debate, but was outdone at the death by his Kiwi rival.

In LMP2, António Félix da Costa made the first mark in the #38 JOTA, leading the pack from Norman Nato in the #41 Realteam by WRT Oreca. However, 2021 Le Mans class winner Robin Frijns of WRT in the #31 Oreca 07-Gibson moved to the top of the tree with three minutes to go.

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Corvette Racing continued to dominate the LMGTE Pro field with Nick Tandy the early class leader in the #64 C8.R. He was initially followed by Antonio García in the #63 sister car but late starter Frédéric Makowiecki in the #91 Porsche moved into second, before García grabbed back the advantage over the Porsche driver.

AF Corse came good in the LMGTE Am class as Vincent Abril pulled out the best lap in the #61 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo, followed by the Kessel Racing #57 Ferrari.

Hypercar

#8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid – Toyota Gazoo Racing – Buemi/Hartley/Hirakawa – 3:24.408
#7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid – Toyota Gazoo Racing – Conway/Kobayashi/López – 3:24.828
#36 Alpine A480-Gibson – Alpine Elf Team – Negrão/Lapierre/Vaxiviere – 3:24.850
#709 Glickenhaus 007 LMH – Glickenhaus Racing – Briscoe/Westbrook/Mailleux – 3:26.841
#708 Glickenhaus 007 LMH – Glickenhaus Racing – Pla/Dumas/Derani – 3:26.359

LMP2

#31 Oreca 07-Gibson – WRT – Gelael/Frijns/Rast – 3:28.394
#41 Oreca 07-Gibson – Realteam by WRT – Andrade/Habsburg/Nato – 3:29.697
#22 Oreca 07-Gibson – United Autosports USA – Hanson/Albuquerque/Owen – 3:30.070
#38 Oreca 07-Gibson – JOTA – Gonzáles/da Costa/Stevens – 3:30.373
#9 Oreca 07-Gibson – Prema Orlen Team – Kubica/Delétraz/Colombo – 3:31.115
#23 Oreca 07-Gibson – United Autosports USA – Lynn/Jarvis/Pierson – 3:31.596

LMGTE Pro

#64 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R – Corvette Racing – Milner/Tandy/Sims – 3:51.491
#63 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R – Corvette Racing – García/Taylor/Catsburg – 3:51.132
#91 Porsche 911 RSR-19 – Porsche GT Team – Bruni/Lietz/Makowiecki – 3:51.382
#92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 – Porsche GT Team – Christensen/Estre/Vanthoor – 3:50.999
#52 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo – AF Corse – Molina/Fuoco/Rigon – 3:51.614
#51 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo – AF Corse – Pier Guidi/Calado/Serra – 3:51.502

LMGTE Am

#61 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo – AF Corse – Prette/Grunewald/Abril – 3:52.594
#57 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo – Kessel Racing – Kimura/Schandorff/Jensen – 3:52.751
#77 Porsche 911 RSR-19 – Dempsey-Proton Racing – Ried/Priaulx/Tincknell – 3:53.006
#98 Aston Martin Vantage AMR – Northwest AMR – Dalla Lana/Pittard/Thiim – 3:53.578
#54 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo – AF Corse – Flohr/Castellacci/Cassidy – 3:53.757
#85 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo – Iron Dames – Frey/Gatting/Bovy – 3:53.869